Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Dino

I know it's been been absolutely ages since my last post. I still have many posts that I want to write, but I thought that I would start with this one first.

Dino recently opened in Fort Greene and I had the pleasure of going there this past weekend. There aren't that many Italian restaurants in Brooklyn that I love going to, aside from Locanda Vini e Olii (in Clinton Hill) andal di là(in Park Slope), and having lived in Rome, I've been a little spoiled.

Dino reminds me of this restaurant in Rome, Cacio e Pepe, where I had the pasta dish of the same name (essentially spaghetti with pecorino romano cheese and black pepper). Simple, delicious comfort food.

And that is what Dino does best.

We started off with the an avocado crositino appetizer ($4 off the Specials menu), fresh and spicy. The bread for the table was accompanied by an olive paste and oil dip, which was also very good. I had the oriechiette with pistachio arugula pesto ($12), which came with small potatoes, fresh green beans, and topped with diced red peppers. It was very tasty, but the hit of the meal was the spinach gnocchi with tomato sauce and roasted garlic cream ($14). It had this simple yet complex-tasting red sauce that was similar to a vodka sauce (due to the cream?). This complemented the homemade melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi perfectly (I couldn't believe that gnocchi could be this soft!) For dessert, we had the hazelnut panna cotta drizzled with a chocolate sauce, served with a side of fresh berries. The panna cotta was delightful (the last time I had panna cotta it was too cold and hard, but this was the consistency of silken tofu).

I didn't sample a cocktail, which according to the Grub Street review, was created by a consultant from the Pegu Club, but my iced tea was refreshing and didn't need any sugar.

All entrees including the pasta and meat dishes range from $12 to $18, which is extremely reasonable given the quality of the food and its location on Dekalb Ave., prime restaurant real estate in Fort Greene!

I can't wait to go back to try the spaghetti with fresh lemon and parmigiana reggiano ($12). Dino will be going on my list of go-to restaurants in the neighborhood.

Dino222 Dekalb Ave. near Clermont AveBrooklyn, NY 11205718-222-1999dinorestaurantny.com (this is the website listed on their business card, but doesn't seem to be up and running yet)

What's with the name?

"Do you want me to make you a lunchbox?" That's what my mom said after dinner every night. It sounds so strange. Shouldn't she say, "Do you want me to pack you a lunch?" But, English is not my mom's first language. And, that didn't stop me from enjoying leftovers the next day in my neatly packed Tupperware container.

My mom's weird sentence still tickles me to this day and her gesture of making me a lunchbox (even into my early 20's!) also made me feel very taken care of.

I hope that this blog will give you information about little treasures (be it restaurants or recipes) I have found.